Avatar: Black night, blue day
by Generator X
Summary: Azula tells a ghost story


I do not own avatar

prologue

"Well?"  
>"Come on!"<br>"Oh very well, since I have nothing better to do. It all started on a cold windy day."

* * *

><p>It all started on a cold windy day. The sun was slowly sinking over the horizon. A small group of men stood knee deep in the snow of the of the South Pole.<p>

"Are you sure it's here? I'm f-f-f-freezing!" the skinniest one said, while rubbing his arms trying to keep warm.

His captain turned to him and smiled. "Oh, it's here. The map said so."

"But C-C-Captain, they say it's been lost for over 10,000 years!" the man pleaded.

The captain stopped and checked his map one more time before looking up towards a small mountain of ice.

"Not anymore."

* * *

><p>Once they found the entrance to a cave they slowly went into the mountain of ice. As they journeyed deeper, the air got colder, and heavier. Using torches to light their way, they slowly made it into the center of the mountain, where a large cavern greeted them.<p>

And there it was.  
>Frozen in the ice.<br>Frozen in time.

The captain had heard stories about it, but to see it? It was amazing…

"Gentlemen, may I introduce the legendary pirate ship, the Sakushu-sha! Said to hold within a ruby the size of a man's heart."  
>According to legend, the Sakushu-sha was one of the greatest pirate ships of its day. Countless treasures were said to have once been contained within it. Now the greatest of them all is sealed within.<p>

The heart of blood, a ruby whose beauty is said to be so great, it transcends life and death. And now the captain could taste it…it would soon be his.  
>As the captain and his crewmen boarded the Sakushu-sha, they discovered a most terrifying sight: the skeletons of its crew all frozen solid by the arctic cold, still in the positions they were in when they were alive. What force drove these men, that they wouldn't even abandoned their posts in death?<br>The captain didn't care.

"Don't lose your spines! There's a treasure just waiting to be found!" he yelled at them.

He ordered his men to search the inside of the ship while he went to the captain's cabin. There he found the ship's captain still sitting at his desk, midway through finishing a log entry. He was about to read it when he heard a yell from one of his shipmates outside.

If only he'd remained to read it…

_"It's been six days since we received our cargo, and the men are tired and hungry. They haven't eaten or slept since we began, and neither have I. But we must make it to our destination, we must seal that THING away. The Avatar used all her strength to defeat it and now it is our duty to take it to a place where no man will find it. The spirits help us all should somebody open it, should somebody free HER and that accursed ruby! It's not that I hate her; if anything I feel sorry for her, for she is cursed, as we all are. I pray that should she awaken, there will be somebody capable of freeing her from her curse, once and for all. My precious flower…  
><em>

_Camellia..."_

As the captain entered the cargo hold, he saw it! The only thing in the room, wrapped in iron chains and bolted to the floor.

A coffin.

By the looks of it, it seemed as though somebody had taken plates of silver and nailed them to it.

"Open it," he commanded

"But sir," one of the men complained. "It's a coffin!"

"Doesn't matter! Open it!"

As the man began to remove the iron chains, none of them seemed to notice that with each passing moment, the air got colder. The sun had almost completely set by the time they moved the last of the chains. Taking his sword, the captain pried the lid open. Inside was the body of what must've been a once beautiful woman, dressed in the finest of silks. Around her neck was a necklace connected to the object of their desire, the heart's blood.

The captain grinned like a madman as he reached down to grab it, and the final rays of sunlight disappeared from the sky.

* * *

><p>The Avatar sat meditating in his room. For some reason he could not explain the night felt…different. Try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that swelled into the depths of his soul.<p>

"Avatar Aang." A gentle and familial voice called to him from within. The Avatar opened his eyes to see his old friend Roku. "I come with grave news. An ancient darkness that should have never existed has returned."

"What is it?" the young Avatar asked.

"Millennia ago, there were those who sought the power of the Avatar for themselves, and so by making a deal with the spirit of the night they created a most unnatural power: 'the heart of blood.' With this, they could steal the very bending from the blood of their victims.

But at a cost; they would no longer be living nor would they be dead. Because they would no longer be human, they named this new form after the spirit Vampurious.

Vampire.

The Avatar at the time managed to stop the cult before they could complete their transformation. But unfortunately 'the heart of blood' was lost in the fight, only to be found by young noblewoman. She became the first and most powerful of the vampires, driven to insanity by her unwilling transformation and seeking vengeance against the world.

All seemed lost until a discovery was made; because the power came from a spirit of the night, the sun was its natural enemy. It was believed the blood of a firebender who was in-tune with the true nature of fire could destroy the heart of blood and its mistress. Unfortunately, at the time no such person existed. So the Avatar of the time used all of her power and sealed the vampire away."

"But now she's free," Aang said in a weak voice.

Avatar Roku nodded his head "However, there is hope. Even though back then there was no firebender capable of defeating the vampire. One exists now."

"Who?"

"Someone who you've met before"

"Zuko?"

"No Aang, not Zuko"

"Then who?"

"Someone whose firebending is so great, they have mastered the highest level. Someone whose skills were great enough to equal the Avatar. Someone whose mind was so sharp they brought Ba Sing Se to its knees."

Aang's eyes widened in realization.

"That is correct young Avatar. If the word has any hope of surviving the night, all hope lies within Azula."

* * *

><p>Sokka: "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You made <em>yourself<em> the hero of the story?"  
>Azula: "Storyteller's prerogative."<br>Aang: "Come on Sokka, let her finish the story."  
>Azula: "Thank you, Avatar."<p> 


End file.
